Mardel Coppersafe?

This is a discussion on Mardel Coppersafe? within the Tropical Fish Diseases forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
I'm cycling a 20 gallon tank with some bettas and platies. I noticed that one of the bettas has anchorworm (the bettas where given ...

I'm cycling a 20 gallon tank with some bettas and platies. I noticed that one of the bettas has anchorworm (the bettas where given to me by a friend), so I treated with Coppersafe. The directions merely state that it treats water for one month. Does that mean that just one dose will do for the whole month?

ps...the bottle also states that it is unsafe for invertebrates, but says nothing about plecos. I didn't know that it was unsafe for plecos until it had killed my rubber lip pleco.

Eventually I would like to have some freshwater shrimp in this community tank. So what do I have to do to remove all of the Coppersafe to make this tank safe for inverts?
Your advice is appreciated.
Patty

It's extremely hard to make a tank safe for inverts after copper has been used. I'm not sure that there's any way to really do it without emptying the tank and bleaching it (or something like that). Even that isn't guaranteed to remove all copper.

You'll want to run carbon in your filter. You'll also need a copper test kit. If you can get zero readings of copper in your tank, you can probably try adding a feeder shrimp or something as a tester, and hopefully all will work out.

I think this issue with copper is more true of saltwater inverts than freshwater (as they are probably more tolerant). Oftentimes you'll see used tanks advertised as "never used copper" as this is a legitimate issue and concern. However, it's really good to hear that you've had success with inverts in your tank- perhaps the copper issue is given more attention than needed.

Well, okay...thank you for the response. Still a little confused...but that's nothing new. I went to Petsmart on Sunday, and the man there said that Coppersafe would not harm plecos, but everything that I've read online says that it will...which is correct?
As for the shrimp, I think I've given up on the idea. I'm told that my bettas and even my platies will eat them!

Well, okay...thank you for the response. Still a little confused...but that's nothing new. I went to Petsmart on Sunday, and the man there said that Coppersafe would not harm plecos, but everything that I've read online says that it will...which is correct?
As for the shrimp, I think I've given up on the idea. I'm told that my bettas and even my platies will eat them!

Thanks for the help
Patty

I've kept platy and shrimp together and never had that problem.

And it really depends on the personality of your betta, many betta tolerate a little snail or shrimp buddy. But others if they are a little more aggressive may try to eat the shrimp. The shrimp I have are pretty big though... I can't imagine a betta even trying and eat one.

Hmm...maybe I will try it out in another tank. As for this one, I lost a betta this morning. My ammonia levels are high, but everything else seems okay. I have tried amquel, cycle, among others...I even put ammo chips in the filter, and the levels are still high. I know that it's still cycling, but the levels are pretty dangerous. On Sunday, I did an approximate 25% water change hoping that that would help...no such luck. I guess I will just ride it out and see what happens.
Thanks for the help
Patty